Bridges Investment Management Inc. Acquires New Holdings in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,720 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $633,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EGP. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in EastGroup Properties by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. purchased a new stake in EastGroup Properties during the fourth quarter worth about $227,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in EastGroup Properties during the fourth quarter worth about $103,931,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in EastGroup Properties by 67.4% during the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,267 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the period. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new stake in EastGroup Properties during the fourth quarter worth about $225,000. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

Shares of EGP opened at $186.83 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $185.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $8.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.99. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 52-week low of $154.75 and a 52-week high of $192.61.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by ($0.91). EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 37.16% and a return on equity of 8.69%. The firm had revenue of $159.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. EastGroup Properties’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. This is a boost from EastGroup Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. EastGroup Properties’s payout ratio is currently 121.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EGP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $158.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $179.00 to $214.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised EastGroup Properties from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $192.00 to $204.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.00.

About EastGroup Properties

EastGroup Properties, Inc (NYSE: EGP), a member of the S&P Mid-Cap 400 and Russell 1000 Indexes, is a self-administered equity real estate investment trust focused on the development, acquisition and operation of industrial properties in major Sunbelt markets throughout the United States with an emphasis in the states of Florida, Texas, Arizona, California and North Carolina.